From Brayton, Carlisle, on cancelled letterhead of the County Club, Carlisle. 19 December 1884.

£50.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.?>

From Brayton, Carlisle, on cancelled letterhead of the County Club, Carlisle. 19 December 1884.

£50.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.?>

An unusual survival, the letters of a composer, Harold Jervis-Read, to his lover illustrating the growth of a relationship (and an ability to express his feelings) against the backcloth (sometimes foreground) of his musical activities, and his marriage. Total of letters circa 350 (three hundred and fifty) Autograph Letters, 118 (one hundred and eighteen) apparently complete letters (many start and end abruptly), dated, 432 (four hundred and thirty two) pages, with some APCSs, mainly 12mo, 1-8pp. each, 55 of these letters dated 1933 and 30 dated 1934, 1926-1928 comprising one letter only.

[ Queen Caroline of Brunswick (1768-1821), consort of King George IV ] [ Samuel Wells, Under Sheriff of the County of Cambridgeshire ]

Publication details:

[ Cambridgeshire, 1821. ]

£60.00

The present item is the subject of a letter to The Times, 1 August 1821, from Samuel Wells, 'Late Under Sheriff of Cambridgeshire', in which it is quoted as having been drawn up at a 'public meeting of the County of Cambridgeshire [...] convened by the late High Sheriff, in consquence of a requisition presented to him for that purpose, which requisition was signed by several noblemen and magistrates, with 27 other proprietors of considerable estates within the county'. 2pp., 4to. On watermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn.

Bill Noonan, playwright [ the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence ]

Publication details:

Without place or date, but in envelope with postmarke of Baile Atha Cliath [ Dublin, Republic of Ireland ], 8 August, 1979.

£220.00

116pp., 4to. (Paginated to 117, without a p.95, but with no text lacking.) No prelims. Each page typed on a separate leaf, and the whole bound together by string through punch holes. Text complete. Dog-eard and worn, with the first two leaves separated from the rest. No record discovered of author or title. The play is set during the Second World War, and begins: 'Afternoon fourclock ... Late spring ... side of road, North Cork district six miles from town of Kilneesh, Irishman trying to fix a tire ... car protruding from wings showing a flat.

[1] + 62pp., folio. On rectos only. Bound with metal studs into yellow card covers, with the spine reinforced with cloth tape. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Loosely inserted is a five-page carbon typescript describing 'Approximate number of costumes necessary'. Also inserted is a typed page beginning with an 'Extract from letter from Sir Donald Wolfit: 8.7.58. | At the moment it looks like an opening date in the second half of September out of London for six or seven weeks first. Mr. Laurence Irving will be in touch with you in the near future for a preliminary discussion'.

The Iron, Steel and Allied Trades Employers' Federation of Great Britain (J. R. Winpenny of Middlesborough, Secretary); London and North Western Railway; Compulsory Weighing and Measurement Bill, 1906

Publication details:

Middlesborough and Crewe. 1906 and 1907.

£120.00

The eight items are unbound, in fair condition, on aged paper with loss to extremities of some documents.ONE: Printed parliamentary bill: 'Compulsory Weighing and Measurement. | A Bill To provide for the Weighing and Measurement of the Material used in the process of manufacture, as well as the Product thereof, in all Iron or Steel Works, Cement Works, Lime Works, and Chalk Quarries. | Presented by Mr. Barnes, | supported by | Mr. Keir Hardie, Mr. Hodge, [and nine others] | Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 22 February 1906.

On reverse of cut-down printed scorecard for the Middlesex v. Rest of England match, Kennington Oval [ London ], 12 to 15 September 1921.

£60.00

On 14 x 12.5 cm piece of card, with the cropped printed scorecard (completed in pencil in childish hand) on one side, and the autograph signatures on the otherwise-blank reverse. In good condition, lightly-aged. The five signatures are bold and strong in black ink, and read: 'P. Mead | Ed Tyldesley | E Hendren | J W Hearne | J W Hitch'.

2pp., 4to. In good condition on a lightly-aged leaf of wove paper. The recto gives a list of some of Gladstone's speeches and actions on religious matters between 1834 and 1846, beginning with 'IN 1834, MR. W. E. GLADSTONE, then recently returned to Parliament, first made himself known to the public by his speech against the admission of Dissenters into the Universities.' The page ends: 'In 1846, MR. W. E.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with short closed tear at head of gutter. He states that 'Ld B. [ i.e. the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham] was the first member of Ld Grey's Cabinet who objected to the cabinet to which the Reform Bill was carried', adding of Brougham that 'his opinion of one year, or of one week, are not those of another'. He does not believe that there is any 'reason to expect a dissolution at present but the Tories are very anxious, & its difficult to say what their may be'.?>

2pp., 12mo. Printed on one side of a piece of 21 x 26.5 cm paper, with central vertical fold dividing the pages. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'My dear Children'. He begins by describing his attendance at the laying by Prince Albert Victor of 'the first stone of the New Bancroft Schools at Woodford', with lunch by the Drapers' Company. He soon changes tack: 'On the 14 I visited Buffalo Bills Wild West Show and you will I dare say like to hear what I saw there, better than what we did at Woodford.' He notes that he was 'mightily taken with the reality of the show.

Printed on one side of a piece of 45.5 x 57cm yellow paper. A fragile survival, on cheap paper, worn and folded four times, with some closed tears to folds. An arresting poster, laid out in the customary style of the period, in a variety of roman and italic fonts and point sizes. The body of the text reads: 'Parliamentary | REFORM [last word in 6.5 cm high letters] | We the undersigned hereby request the Inhabitants of the Borough of Plymouth to | meet at the ROYAL HOTEL, at 12 o'Clock precisely, | On WEDNESDAY, the 9th Feb.

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and creased. An interesting piece of ephemera, relating to one of the most significant events in the history of modern Britain. The recto of the first leaf carries Hill's circular letter, with facsimile signature, beginning 'The National Health Service Bill is upon us. | In order that the profession my be financially armed for any conflict which might arise, the Council of the B.M.A.

8pp., 12mo. Disbound and without covers. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Refers to 'Mr. Forster's disloyalty to the Liberal Party in the House of Commons and in the country in framing the provisions of his Educational Bill. [of 1870]' Scarce: no copies on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC.

First letter: Michigan, 4 July 1957. Second letter: Oklahoma, 22 September 1957. Cards from 1960 and 1962.

£135.00

All four items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. All four in a bold, expansive hand. The two letters accompanied by their envelopes, addressed to Child in London. Letter One: Address: 'c/o Mr & Mrs G. W. Williams, | 615 East Genesee, | Saginaw | Michigan. U.S.A.' 4 July 1957. 4pp., 4to. She is 'on the first lap of my Vacation' and has asked 'Anne' to contact him. 'During the University year I am so frightfully taxed for time - my own correspondence and my personal affairs suffer in consequence and are perforce relegated to the background.

The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, and despite opposition from mill owners fearing a disruption to their water supply, began construction following the passing of an act of parliament in 1794. On completion (it was officially opened in 1804), and until the railway age, it constituted the main commercial route between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The present small collection provides an interesting sidelight into the legal and financial difficulties involved in the project, with several reference reflecting badly on Shuttleworth's professional capabilities.

7pp., 8vo. Inscribed at head of title-page: '<?> an earnest request for a careful consideration of the whole question'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, no wraps, disbound. Only one copy traced on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat, at the BL.

15 + [1]pp., 8vo. Drophead title. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. Poetic dialogue in Tennysonian blank verse, beginning: 'First Peer. - This measure, every session comes to pass | By large majorities the Lower House; | And every year, of course, we throw it out, | But only by a bare majority.

The full title reads: 'Mr. Mundella's Bill for Limiting the Hours of Labour in Factories. Observations of the Employers upon the Report to the Local Government Board by J. H. Bridges, M.D., and T. Holmes, on the Health of Women, Children, and Young Persons engaged in Textile Manufactures, with Special Reference to the Hours and Ages of Employment.' 45pp., 8vo. Disbound, with the signatures separated, otherwise in fair condition, lightly-aged, no wraps.